AdopSource Dinner & a Dialogue Event Summary
Writer: Margie Andreason
St. Paul, MN – “How has being an Asian adoptee impacted you?” This was just one question asked at AdopSources’ November 15th Dinner and Dialogue event. A diverse panel of Asian adoptees shared their perspectives to a full room of adoptees, adoptive parents, family and friends. AdopSource brought the Asian adoptee community together in honor of National Adoptee Awareness Month. Nearly 70 people came to share insights, stories, and a meal together in Hoa Bien’s banquet hall.
 Kate Sands, Board Member and Co-Chair of the Events and Membership Committee for AdopSource, was the moderator for the event. She introduced the four panelists: Satoru “San” Asato who is a Japanese adoptee and adoptive parent of a Japanese adoptee, Paula O’Loughlin who is a Korean adoptee and adoptive parent of a Korean adoptee, Adam Rebholz who was adopted from Vietnam, and finally Rebecca Couillard who is an Indian adoptee.
 Questions ranged a number of topics from identity to dating to birth search experiences. Asato shared how being an Asian adoptee has impacted his identity by making him “more introspective and thoughtful.” He knew he was different. This was a common theme among the panelists. O’Loughlin shared how she was the only adoptee and person of color where she grew up. Though her parents were supportive and open, she was never sure if it was okay to talk to them about wanting to search for her birth family. Now as an adoptive parent herself, her experiences have given her insight in how to raise her son who is also adopted from Korea. She tries to offer opportunities for her son to talk about being adopted if he wants to. O’Loughlin also noted how natural it was for adoptees to be curious about their birth family, so even though it may be hard for adoptive parents, it is important for them to support their children in learning more about their past. Adam Rebholz also added that doing a birth search to get basic information such as health records may also be an incentive for adoptive parents to support the search. Insights such as these provided by O’Louglin and Rebholz resonated with adoptive parents in the audience. Jon Faust, adoptive parent of twins from China, commented “I enjoyed the panel discussion. The questions were good and I appreciated the advice for adoptive parents.” The panelists also gave responses directed to adoptees themselves.
Rebholz was able to travel back to his birth country of Vietnam and visit other Southeast Asian countries at the same time, and offered this advice to adoptees, “The best thing you can do is go traveling and interact with the people you meet.” Rebecca was also able to travel back to her birth country of India. She encouraged adoptees to prepare themselves before visiting their birth country by doing some research and learning about the culture beforehand.
Though AdopSource was able to gather a diverse number of experiences on the panel, it still does not represent the wide range of adoptee viewpoints out there. AdopSource’s goal is to lift these stories up, bring more awareness to the public, and provide a safe learning space for adoptees, adoptive parents and community members.
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